Baked Braeburn Apples with Sun-Dried Cider-Soaked Fruits

This recipe was given to me by Allana Smith of Larkspur in Vail, Colorado. Allana grew up in upstate New York, where the family’s large summer garden yielded vegetables for the root cellar and fruits for Dad’s canning to soften long, harsh Buffalo winters. Her culinary skills were nurtured by her grandmother, who taught her the pleasures and treasures of the hearth, especially kuchen, cookies, and candy-making. She also benefited from her parents’ elementary-school classroom projects, making root beer and Easter chocolates from scratch.

Allana’s decision to become a chef followed a one-year stint in Barcelona that brought exposure to new cuisines (“beyond Shake ‘n Bake,” as she puts it) and the joy of simple rustic fare based on great local produce; she returned home and enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute.

After working with celebrity chefs in restaurants in Chicago, Nantucket, and the Napa Valley, Allana ultimately transitioned from line chef to pastry chef, under the tutelage of an alumna from La Varenne. Always expanding her repertoire, Allana now oversees the selection of cheeses and fruits and the preparation of preserves and candies, in addition to creating desserts that are legendary at Larkspur. Her encyclopedic knowledge of cheese, chocolate, and rare produce is only matched by her enthusiasm for food and unimagined creativity. Food talk with Allana was the highlight of the Vail recipe collection experience.